Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Celebration

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Celebration1909-2009

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Centennial1909-2009

A curriculum project developed in partnership with

HistoryLink.org and Heritage 4Culture.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg . UW27926z)


On June 1, 1909, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific (A-Y-P) Exposition opened in Seattle. It brought more than three million people from around the world to the University of Washington campus to look at exhibits and enjoy amusements. There was so much to see that many people visited the fair over and over.

So here’s your chance to learn all about it.

Now, grab a ticket…

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. Nowell x1275)



Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x2998)

. . . and come along for the ride

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. UW9452)

Seattle had come a long way since pioneers first began to arrive in this land inhabited by the Duwamish in 1851 to build homes and businesses.


Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. SEA0232)

It had grown from a remote settlement . . .


Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. SEA2220)

. . . to a bustling city in just 54 years.

Improved transportation to and from Seattle for people and freight made it possible for the city to grow.



Courtesy Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society (Neg. No. 695-3 and (Neg. No. 1741-104))

Oceangoing ships connected Seattle with Alaska, Asia, and the rest of the world.

Many smaller boats connected Seattle with ports on Puget Sound and Lake Washington – so many that they were called the Mosquito Fleet, like a swarm of mosquitoes.

The Great Northern Railway opened the first transcontinental railroad terminal in Seattle in 1893.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. A. Curtis 05612)


Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. SEA2190 and SEA1345)


The muddy roads in and around Seattle began to be improved to allow for smoother traveling conditions for horse-drawn wagons and buggies.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Wilse 102C)



Courtesy Museum of History & Industry (No. 2002.3.459)

But the main reason for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest’s sudden growth was the discovery of gold in Alaska and along the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory. To get to the Yukon you had to go through Alaska.


Seattle was the gateway to Alaska and to the Klondike goldfields.

Canada required hopeful gold miners to take a ton of provisions with them when they undertook the arduous trip from Alaska into the Yukon. Most miners purchased the necessary food and supplies here in Seattle.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No WAR0400), (Neg. No ADV0448), (Neg. No ADV0244)

Seattle businesses prospered when miners set out and prospered again when they returned home.

Many returned empty handed. But the lucky ones who found gold in Alaska bought gifts for their families at local shops and some even decided to start businesses here.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. UW1758) and (Neg. No. 1983.10.7669.3


Seattle was quickly becoming an important city. City leaders hoped that if they could encourage more people to come to this area to find jobs, buy homes, and start businesses, that Seattle could become the principal city on the West Coast.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. A. Curtis 13395)


At the turn of the century, world’s fairs were a popular way to showcase industrial advances and the special resources and advantages of different regions.


Why not hold a world’s fair in Seattle? It would be a great opportunity to inform people about the wonderful resources of the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska. Many Seattle people were connected with Alaska.




Organizers named the event the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition because they wanted to promote the resources of Alaska and of Canada’s Yukon Territory. They also wanted to promote the importance of trade with Pacific Rim countries.

Countries from around the world reserved space to exhibit their resources. Some even built entire buildings. The A-Y-P was set to be a truly international, multicultural event.

It would need enough land to construct buildings for exhibits.

It also needed to be in an area of Seattle that could be reached from downtown.

The A-Y-P needed the perfect location.


They selected the wooded campus of the University of Washington.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (UWC0044)


Situated on the shores of Lake Washington, it had a beautiful view of Mount Rainier and a large forested area mostly empty of buildings.

People who lived in the Pacific Northwest quickly became excited about the upcoming A-Y-P and what it could mean for continued growth in the region. On June 1, 1907, they broke ground, which officially started the A-Y-P construction project.

You can see by the huge crowds that the A-Y-P was a highly anticipated event.



A-Y-P officials used a gold-colored pick and shovel on Groundbreaking Day. A man in the crowd asked them to let one of the locals lend a hand in the digging ceremony.



Courtesy UW Special Collections, (Neg. No. AYP452)

As soon as he was handed the gold-colored shovel, the man darted into the crowd and disappeared.

The golden shovel was never seen again!

The crowd then realized that it would like to have a souvenir of this important day too. People grabbing the small flags and other decorations destroyed the stage!


Before long, workers began clearing trees from the University of Washington campus.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. UW 11729)


A-Y-P organizers chose the Olmsted Brothers to design the grounds. They were the most respected landscape designers of that time.

Views of Mount Rainier, Lake Washington, and Lake Union were used as focal points for the design.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Digital ID No.PAM0151)


Some of the structures designed for the A-Y-P were built to be used as university classroom buildings after the fair.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowellx170


Other huge buildings, like the Government Building, were designed to be torn down after the 4½ month A-Y-P ended.


People sent postcards to all parts of the United States to spread the word about the upcoming A-Y-P.


Publicity for the fair was very important.


School children helped by writing letters to schools across the United States telling other children why they should convince their parents to come to the A-Y-P and bring them along!

Courtesy United States Postal Service


There were articles written in newspapers all over the world. According to this one, a French writer did “not seem to be very well informed of the exact location of Seattle although he knows that it is somewhere along the Pacific Coast."



The winning design was created by Adelaide Hanscom, an artist and photographer who moved to Seattle after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed her studio there. She won $500 for first place.

A-Y-P organizers asked artists to submit ideas for an official A-Y-P logo that could be used for all publicity, official publications, and fair souvenirs.

Courtesy UW Special Collections

Courtesy UW Special Collections


The local streetcar system and the Northern Pacific Railroad helped advertise the A-Y-P and how to get to Seattle and to the fairgrounds.



Local businesses created small-scale advertisements featuring their products and passed them out at the A-Y-P as souvenirs.


Some ads were more creative than others. This was a fold-up ad that promoted a way to get to the A-Y-P fairgrounds aboard the Flyer, which was one of the Mosquito Fleet steamers.



Finally it was opening day and the ticket takers at the main gate were ready for the huge crowds expected to attend.



More than 80,000 people attended the A-Y-P on that first day.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x1040a)


The A-Y-P grounds were spectacular — just as the event planners had hoped!



The south entrance was designed with a mixture of Asian and Native American influences. Light bulbs in the totem poles’ eyes could be lit up at night.

The Government Building was located at the head of the Court of Honor.


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Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x2344) and (Neg. No. AYP1191Courtesy MOHAI (Neg. No. 1990.73.176)


The Government Building featured educational exhibits from the Smithsonian Museum that included the desk on which the Declaration of Independence was written, a replica of a Pony Express rider, and General Sherman’s battle wagon from the Civil War.


The Agriculture Building was one of the most popular of the educational buildings because it featured an exhibit from every county in Washington state and showcased their unique natural resources.

Courtesy UW Special Collections,(Neg. No. UW8308) and (Neg. No. Nowell x2009)

Wenatchee showed off its famous apples. Snohomish County filled its exhibit with samples of rock from mines around its towns.



Alaska had its own special building at the A-Y-P.

Alaska was well- known for its unusual but convenient mode of transportation – the dog sled.

But of course, Alaska’s most impressive display was the one filled with gold nuggets!

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. AYP002) and (Neg. No. AYP658)



The Forestry Building featured the amazing lumber resources located here in the Pacific Northwest.

Courtesy U

W S

pecial Collections (N

eg. No. AY

P313)


There was a pair of huge dice. Each one was made from a single piece of wood.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. AYP312) and (Neg. No. Nowell x2980)


People marveled at the length and width of the logs found in the forests here.

The New York Building was built to look just like William Seward’s home located in New York State. William Seward was the man who arranged for the United States to purchase Alaska. This building was used to host dinners for important dignitaries who visited the A-Y-P.


California promoters wanted the world to know that it had the perfect climate to grow fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Their building had an elephant made entirely of walnuts… and a huge lemon made up of individual lemons.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x1741) and (Neg. No. Nowell x1730)



The Hoo-Hoo House was built for the members of an organization of lumbermen. They decorated the exterior of the house with black cats and thought the number nine was lucky!

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. AYP978)


The A-Y-P also featured the latest in medical advances. Here is the Baby Incubator exhibit. Incubators had recently been invented to help keep very small or sick babies warm and isolated from germs. There were real babies in this exhibit!



But the place most people wanted to visit was the Pay Streak!

The Pay Streak was a mining term that described where the main gold lode was located.

The educational portion of the World’s Fair was free with admission, but it was necessary to pay for the rides and refreshments on the Pay Streak.

Kids and adults loved Pay Streak attractions such as the Scenic Railroad, the Fairy Gorge Tickler.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x1568) and (Neg. No. Nowell x2793


Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. PH Coll 61.36a) and (Neg. No. AYP1275

The House and the Ferris Wheel…


The Foolish House and the Haunted Swing . . .




. . . Prince Albert the Educated Horse…



Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x2724 and (Neg. No. Nowell x2230)


. . . games of chance and a shooting gallery


and souvenir shops!


Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. UW27067z), (Neg. No. Nowell x2227) and Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x2726)

There were lots of places to eat!


Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowell x2725) and Courtesy MOHAI (Neg. No. 1995.38.37.68)

There were exciting places to visit, like the Arena, the Gold Camps of Alaska…


. . . and the “cultural villages” – the Eskimo Village . . . and the Igorrote Village.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. AYP315) and (Neg. No. Nowell x1766)


Courtesy UW Special Collections Neg. No. Nowell x2165


The Igorrote Village was a carefully constructed replica of an actual village from the mountains in the Philippines inhabited by members of the Igorrote Tribe.


Today this exhibit would be controversial because it is considered inappropriate to display human beings. But it was one of the most popular attractions. Visitors were intrigued by this culture of people who lived differently. Many wanted to have their photos taken alongside the Igorrotes.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. PH Coll 727.795)


Children attended the A-Y-P with their families. There were special Children’s Days when children were admitted free of charge. Children could take tours led by school teachers. If they took three of the tours, they were given a diploma.


There were special events such as a cross-country car race, dirigible flights, hot-air balloon rides, a re-enactment of the Battle of Manila . . .

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. PH Coll 777.Oakes 1249) (Neg. No. PH Coll 779.24)

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. Nowel x4258)


and, of course, parades.

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. No. UW27354z)


Many important dignitaries attended the A-Y-P, including officials from other countries, celebrities, and America’s president, William Howard Taft.

By the time it closed on October 16, 1909, more than three million people had visited the A-Y-P. The A-Y-P was one of the few world’s fairs to make a profit. Organizers decided to contribute a portion of the proceeds to the Anti-Tuberculosis League of King County.

The buildings that remained on the University of Washington campus and the beautiful design of the campus itself were another legacy of the fair.


Courtesy Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society (Neg. No.5011-30) and Courtesy Port of Seattle

Seattle’s waterfront still mirrors those important symbols from the A-Y-P logo: cruise ships to Alaska, freighters to Asia, and railroads carrying goods and people between Seattle and the rest of the country.



Other important legacies of the A-Y-P are the hundreds of primary sources that document the fair and life in the Pacific Northwest during that time.

Photographs, postcards, publicity materials, and newspaper and magazine articles provide an opportunity to view Seattle in 1909 and interpret the growth that has been made in technology, landscape, lifestyle, and cultural diversity.

Special thanks to the following organizations and individuals for allowing the use of these A-Y-P images in this Centennial PowerPoint.

• Museum of History & Industry

• University of Washington Libraries Special Collections

• Seattle Municipal Archives

• Port of Seattle

and personal collectors…

• Alan J. Stein

• Dan Kerlee

• Paul Dorpat

• Patricia Filer

PowerPoint presentation created by Patricia Filer, Jennifer Ott, and Heather Dwyer


Documents

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Celebration